Ben began his public service career at Mesa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO). Among many accomplishments in his 15 years with MCSO, Ben founded and served as program director of the first operational unmanned aerial system (UAS) program for a non-federal public safety agency in the United States.

Throughout the industry, Ben is regarded as a thought leader on the applications of small unmanned aircraft in public safety. His perspective has been shared in presentations across the United States and Canada, including testimony to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, as well as to other members of Congress at both the state and national levels

Ben is now the Director of the Colorado Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting (CoE). The CoE is the lead UAS organization for the Colorado Department of Public Safety. Ben's team focuses on the fire service, but is also solving problems for public safety UAS users by creating solutions for real-time geospatial intelligence sharing, counter-UAS, management of airspace above wildland fires, and numerous other public-safety-related challenges.